Poem of the Day
1981
By Asiya Wadud
in a world the orange sun resets
in a world the orange sun resets
Dig that tomb
Where our kin
Rest their swords
I am the cargo of infinite ships
That star bowed and blown race their teeth
Along a dolphin free ocean that dips
They're lying on a Mexican blanket,
she's on her back with her knees up
and he leans on one elbow,
If there is a God, he has a lot to answer for.
Crocuses, purple cups that bloom through snow.
Cerulean, cornflower, azure, turquoise, ultramarine.
The dim prospects from this window make me ask
if should I hold you in the half-light—when morning
O my seventh year, the year I turned seven
O wondrous moment of departure
After you everything that happened happened in a mass of craziness and
insanity
A window for seeing
A window for hearing
A window like a well
that ends deep in the heart of the earth
and opens out into this expanse of recurring blue kindness
A window that overfills the tiny hands of loneliness
with its nightly gift: the perfume of generous stars
And from there one could invite the sun
to the geraniums in exile
One window is enough for me
A child walks by,
clutching in its small hand
the blueprint of happiness.
Maria, you are dead.
But you probably knew that.
We miss you.
Gutters are swept clean
by the smiles
of evening sharks.